Or is Utah just kicking the can down the road?
My readers are already painfully aware that we’re on the brink of losing Great Salt Lake so I won’t belabor the point, other than to…
include a couple of photos of Fremont Island, taken from the Antelope Island causeway just a few years ago. Here Fremont Island is the smaller, lower land mass directly in front of the much larger Promontory Peninsula directly behind it. From this perspective, and at this focal length, it’s difficult to distinguish the island from the peninsula behind it.
The dark specks on the water are mostly Eared Grebes, hundreds of thousands of them.
A tighter perspective makes it a little easier to distinguish the island from the peninsula. When I took these photos, Fremont Island was actually an island. There was water separating the island from the peninsula directly behind it and there was 16 miles of water between me and the island.
But today that 16 miles of water is gone. You could actually walk from where I took this photo on the causeway to Fremont Island without getting your feet wet.
To get a better perspective of the relationship between Fremont Island and part of the Promontory Peninsula, please see this aerial photo of Fremont Island when it was very close to being an actual island.
US Magnesium (USM) is the largest producer of magnesium in North America. Their remote 4525-acre site on the west shore of Great Salt Lake includes the USM facility and surrounding areas used for waste disposal. They isolate magnesium chloride salts from the lake and then extract the magnesium by electrolysis, which requires massive amounts of water, all taken from the lake.
But because of the receding Great Salt Lake (which USM is partly responsible for) they’re having difficulty getting as much water as they say they need from the lake so they applied to Utah’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for permission to dredge and extend its intake canals 3.7 miles into the lake so they can reach its receding water. Doing so would allow USM to pump 100,000 gallons of water a minute (yes, you read that right) out of the lake, which has hit record-low elevations for the last two years in a row. Some of the water is discharged back into the lake but its environmental quality is significantly degraded.
My heart sank when I first learned of USM’s application for more water, especially given Utah’s long history of kowtowing to the demands of industry and development over environmental concerns. So yesterday I was very pleasantly surprised when DEQ announced that they’d denied USM’s permit application, citing insufficient detail in their application.
It’s a step in the right direction. But, and it’s a big “but”, US Magnesium can submit more detail about water impacts and then apply again.
Assuming USM does apply again, we won’t know until later if Utah is finally serious about trying to save Great Salt Lake or they’re just kicking the can down the road.
Ron
Notes:
- Just minutes ago the Salt Lake Tribune published this article titled “Dear Legislature: Here’s A 2023 Wishlist To Save the Great Salt Lake“.
- I may be wrong about the distance from Antelope Island to Fremont Island. As you can see in the screenshot below, a Google search provides conflicting results.
Both distances listed are probably correct. Distances on US maps are from the center of one location to the other, so the distance between the centers of both islands will be greater than the distance between the shores of the islands.
Thank you for sharing this info, and for your wonderful photographs! I enjoy seeing them.
I can not believe that DEQ did not flatly refuse USM’s application. Saving and restoring the Great Salt Lake should be a major priority. Until the lake is restored or at least on its way back no water should be removed for any commercial purpose. And dredging of any kind should be off the table.
I was shocked on my last visit to AI when I saw the marina at the end of the causeway. It was bone dry and grass was growing up in the slips where I used to see boats docked !!! Some one should put all your legislator on buses and take them on a tour !!
Happy New Year from Rhode Island Ron !!!
One can see the pictures of people walking on the dry lakebed and know things are not good, but somehow your description that 16 MILES of water which separated Fremont Island from your photographic vantage point are now gone – that’s a distance I know and can actually picture. Longer than the length of NYC’s Manhattan (13.4 miles), longer than the trip on I-90 from my house to a friend’s (12 miles), half the distance from Ellensburg to Yakima (32 miles) which I drove the other day.
USM takes 100,000 gallons a MINUTE??? And they want more.
In your 12/10/22 post of Bonnie Baxter’s GSL obit video, you had a link to an article about the brine flies – the researchers found only 6 (SIX) adults. That has been on my mind ever since that post. And now I see that Mike Lee was the winner of the Tribune’s poll. 😢 I pray you all keep getting snow and snow and more snow.
A half marathon and a 5K, essentially.
Carolyn, your first paragraph sure puts things in perspective.
Sadly, I wasn’t surprised that Mike Lee won the Tribune’s readers poll.
Unfortunately, the Utah legislature holds a line about as well as the Detroit Lions have this season. I’m not hopeful, though I would absolutely love to be wrong.
Wishing you and your blog community a healthy and happy 2023. ❤️
Thank you, Marty. The same to you.
First, I was glad to see a post from you.
I know it’s not a popular topic, but the time has come to have an open discussion regarding the growth of human population on this planet. Population growth without end is not sustainable, yet incredibly many think it is.
The other night I was flipping channels and happened across this Heritage Foundation sponsored program that was titled “The Population Bomb”. At first I thought it was a program about the consequences of overpopulation. Nope, it was the exact opposite. They had their own bevy of PhDs claiming that our technologies have the ability to feed everyone on the planet, and if we do not keep our population growing that our civilization will face collapse. It is quite insane.
“Population growth without end is not sustainable”
Michael, I’ve been saying that since the late 60’s when Dr. Paul Ehrlich’s original “Population Bomb” was published.
From your linked article in the Salt lake Tribune:
“Timothy Hawkes, vice chair for the Great Salt Lake Brine Shrimp Cooperative and a former state representative, said he supports… an idea popular among Utah lawmakers and resources managers – paying farmers to lease out their water rights and divert them to the Great Salt Lake.”
Money trumps any other consideration. No surprise. Other ideas:
-pay people to stop watering their lawns
-pay the GSL mining companies to shut down
-pay developers to stop building
-pay people to limit family size
-pay people to stop moving to Utah
My guess is US Magnesium will modify – “mitigate” in permitting doublespeak – their project just enough to mollify the masses and bureaucracies and continue to destroy the GSL. Have they mentioned all the good family-wage jobs they provide? Resource extractors always march out that trope.
“Have they mentioned all the good family-wage jobs they provide?”
Lyle, if they haven’t I’m sure they will in the next go-round.
I wonder how many people they actually employ there. Does anyone know ?
Aaaaargh. How I wish that greed didn’t motivate too many politicians the world over.
Exactly, EC.
For some reason I stopped getting your blog since Christmas, so signing up again. Have a Happy New Year.
Trudy, this is the first time I’ve posted to my blog since Christmas.
I hope that it is a good sign!!
Me too.
I do not think the republican legislators will “hold the line” to save/help The Great Salt Lake. They are money motivated. It makes me sad but this is my belief.
Take Care.
Kaye
I wouldn’t argue with you, Kaye. Not a chance. It sure would be interesting to see a list of the Utah politicians USM donates money to before the next legislative session…
That should be public record !!
Very interesting Ron. I have been to Utah many times and in SLC for business and out at the ski areas and visiting your National Parks, but never really at the lake itself. The first time I ever heard of SLC was in 1943 when my dad on his way to Pearl Harbor sent me a post card from there.
I was amazed at that previous post where you showed the photo of the thousands of Eared Grebes. Let’s hope the right decisions to help bring back the lake are made.
Everett, I’ll bet your dad spent some time at Ft. Douglas while he was here. My dad spent time there too, before he was sent overseas for the invasion of Okinawa but that was in 1945.
A step isn’t enough – we’re in a race to keep this planet habitable for us and all the other species we are so lucky to share it with. I live in hope.
“A step isn’t enough”
Agreed, Burrdoo.
Water is definitely the issue of our time…everywhere. I live in Monterey where we are in a 20 year drought. We are getting lots of rain so far this year. I hope it keeps up. They held back building homes because of lack of water. Now they seem to be finding ways and resources. Money make questionable decisions happen. I’m glad to hear Utah held the line.
” I’m glad to hear Utah held the line”
For now, Gail. Time will tell how it turns out in the end. With Utah politicians and bureaucrats involved it’s hard for me to be optimistic.
Such sad, shortsighted and irresponsible decisions so far do not give me much hope that the politicians will hold firm in protecting what little remains of the Lake.
I’m with you, Kenneth. I’m a pessimist by nature, a characteristic that has been repeatedly reinforced by Utah’s politicians.
Hi Ron,
Things change but the “powers that be” don’t seem to have anything but a very short term view. We visit Austria regularly and the amount that the glaciers have receded it amazing. Yesterday watching ski-jumping in Germany there were just traces of snow on the mountains tops were in the recent past there was always snow in the valleys.
In the words of the song, “where have all the xxxxx gone, when will they ever learn?”
Many thanks for another year of superb photographs with very informative comments.
Best wishes for a Happy New Year to you and your readers
“where have all the xxxxx gone, when will they ever learn?”
Sadly, that’s a musical question that never goes away. Thanks, David.
Sighhhhhhh……..probably just hoping folks will “forget about it” and slip it in down the road unless folks keep an eye on it and continuely express their displeasure. One can always “hope”…….. What happens to the water once it’s served their purposes?
Judy, I believe some of the water is discharged back into the lake but its environmental quality is much degraded.